


Lie.

by feebee



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Growing Up Together, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Louis has a lot of boyfriends, M/M, harry loves Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:45:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1735025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feebee/pseuds/feebee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry really isn't a cliché teenager. He doesn't argue with his mum or sister twenty four/seven, he's not an awkward, anti-social mess, he doesn't obsess over bacon and nutella and he certainly doesn't spend the majority of his time daydreaming about 'that' best friend that he's hopelessly in love with.</p><p> </p><p>or the one where Harry is in love with Louis for six years</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lie.

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello, I don't really know what I was thinking when I started this but now I'm done and you're here reading so I guess its not all that bad?? this is the first thing I've ever done so please don't hate me if its terrible. Also I've checked it like 10 times but if theres any mistakes I'm sorry
> 
> I'll also write prompts if you leave them :) you can leave me some love if you like because love is always nice
> 
> I don't own any of the characters that appear in the fic
> 
>  
> 
> Edit: I can't believe the amount of people that have read this, it means the world to me so thank you x

Harry really isn't a cliché teenager. He doesn't argue with his mum or sister twenty four/seven, he's not an awkward, anti-social mess, he doesn't obsess over bacon and nutella and he certainly doesn't spend the majority of his time daydreaming about 'that' best friend that he's hopelessly in love with.

Lie. He was absolutely in love with Louis Tomlinson, and over the six years he's known Louis, he's had to sit back and let him fall in love with other people.

The first time it happened, Harry was 14 and Louis was 16.

Louis was desperate for Harry to meet Hannah. As the best friend it was his obligation to give his opinion and even though he would have to lie through gritted teeth, he was willing to do it, for Louis. Plus, he only had a little crush, it would blow over in no time.

"Haz, I'm telling you, you'll love her. She's really smart and she's beautiful, like, the most beautiful girl ever" Harry wasn't really listening about how 'perfect' Hannah was, he just loved hearing Louis talk, so he kept a content smile on his face and followed Louis down the street to the park where they were meeting her. Louis didn't stop taking about Hannah and her amazing abilities to act and "did I tell you she was in Grease last year as Frenchy" even though he's told Harry at least six times. Sooner than expected, they arrived at the park, pulling Harry out of his daydream and shoving him right back into reality, and, the sight he was welcomed back with was Louis' lips attached to Hannah's and Harry was pretty sure he was a little bit sick in his mouth.

"Harry, this is Hannah, Hannah meet Harry" Louis beamed, his hand round Hannah's waist

"Right, erm, hi" Harry mumbled, not taking his eyes off the floor.

"He's a quiet one isn't he" Hannah joked, "anyway Lou, are you going to Stan's party this Saturday?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the older boy quipped, "are you coming Harry?"

Before Harry could reply Hannah replied for him, "Little Harry is far too young Louis, he won't want to come with us"

And that's what it was like for the 5 months that followed. Harry didn't really see Louis that much and when he did he may as well have been invisible because now Hannah was the light of Louis' life and she was doing a pretty good job of blinding him. She hated Harry and he knew it but of course Harry wasn't going to say anything, Louis was happy. That is until he knocked on Harry's door late one evening in July to inform him that Hannah had run off with someone else and that he was profoundly sorry for neglecting Harry like he did. Of course Harry forgave him and they spent the rest of the evening watching awful TV and eating the leftovers from Harry's dinner the night before.

 

When Harry was 15, Louis was 17 and had decided that he actually quite liked boys the way he used to like girls.

"Harry, this is Niall and he's my boyfriend" Louis blurted the second Harry answered his door on a cold February morning.

"Oh, well hi Niall, you two coming in?" Harry asked, stepping aside for them to walk in. Niall went to walk in but was stopped by Louis hand on his arm.

"You're okay with this, yeah?" Louis asked shyly, cowering away slightly

"Of course I am, now come inside before I get too cold and shut this door in your face" and just like that everything was back to normal. Harry liked Niall, he was funny and always made you feel better about yourself and even though he was dating Harry's dream guy, he could never bring himself to resent Niall, he was just too nice. Gemma thinks its because he's Irish and "all Irish people are happy, it just happens" but Harry knows its because he makes Louis happy and all he was is for his best friend to be happy, whether its with him or not. This was until 3 months later, when it all took a turn for the worst. In Harry's case anyway.

_I had sex with Niall xx_

_what? when? x_

_last night, it was perfect Harry, he's wonderful xx_

_great...I'll see you tomorrow then x_

If you ask Harry, he'll say he was totally fine with Louis telling him he had sex for the first time over text, why wouldn't he be, its just a stupid crush. He'll get over it.

Lie. He was pretty sure he had completely fallen for Louis Tomlinson.

And so it began, Harry couldn't prepare himself for the torture that he was about to endure (and by torture he means watch Louis be happy) and he knew he couldn't talk to Louis about it so he did the next best thing.

"So you like Louis but he's dating Niall and you want to get over him?"

"Yes Gem, so can you please help me? Because I have no idea what I'm doing" Harry asked, mortified at the fact that he had to go to his sister for relationship advice even though he was 15.

"Just get a boyfriend, you'll soon forget all about Louis" Gemma replied, focusing on the brush strokes of the nail she was painting. So that's what Harry did. He got a boyfriend and began mission 'get over Louis'.

 

Louis met Aiden for the first time when he was 18 and Harry was 16.

"Who's this?" Louis asked, with a cold undertone to his voice

"I'm Aiden, Harry's boyfriend" The stranger replied, holding out his hand for Louis to shake. Ignoring the boy Louis turned to Harry, confusion filling his eyes,

"You never, uh, told me" Louis stuttered

"You never asked, anyway, I really like Aiden and I would appreciate it if you would accept him and our relationship" Harry blurted out, not caring if he sounded like a robot, he had to get his message across to Louis. Apparently, Harry's plan wasn't working too well because before he knew it, Louis had stormed out of the park where they had agreed to meet, looking very flustered. That, in turn, triggered a month long fight between the two best friends. It was hard to avoid one another because their mothers were such good friends, so in summary, it was a month of treading of eggshells and awkward stares. It was pathetic really because Harry didn't care for Aiden like he did for Louis and Louis was just jealous that Harry had finally found someone else, they were both essentially living a lie. This time was different though because it was Harry who had someone now, not Louis. Niall had moved back to Ireland with his family and Louis had to rely on his mum to tell him that "he'll feel better soon" even though he felt tired and sad all the time, that is until Louis' phone beeped at 9:03PM on a Tuesday night.

_I split with Aiden x_

_oh? x_

_I was only dating him to make you jealous...I'm sorry Lou, I really am x_

_you better come over now then, we have a lot to catch up on :) xx_

And so that concluded the fight, nothing else said, all tense feelings gone for good.

Lie. Harry was no where near getting over Louis and felt extremely tense around him due to the fact that he was completely obsessed with the older boy.

Harry was, of course, welcomed back with open arms and "oh Harry dear I haven't seen you round here in weeks" which made him feel even more guilty, even though he had nothing to feel guilty about, its not like him and Louis were dating or anything. He was also jumped by all off Louis' sisters, who claimed to love Harry more than Louis but Harry never agreed because its not possible to love someone more than you can love Louis but he obviously didn't say that so he smiled and hugged them before going to find his best friend. They spent the night talking about Niall and Aiden, gossiping like two teenage girls, and how they now had each other back and promised not to date anyone ever again.

 

When Harry was 17 and Louis was 19, he realised their promise didn't last.

Louis brought Matt to the annual Styles/Tomlinson family dinner. Harry could feel Gemma's eyes burning into him, knowing full well Harry had no idea Matt was joining them that night and it took all he had not to well up because yet again he had to watch Louis with someone else. Louis didn't think he had done anything wrong, he just wanted everyone to like Matt so they could all get along. He didn't even notice when Harry excused himself from the table once he had finished eating. He wanted the ground to swallow him up, this could possibly be the worst night of his life. Okay, slight exaggeration.

"Harry?" a voice called from outside his room, snapping him out of his daydream

"Yeah?" he replied, followed by Lottie walking in to talk to him, she sat on the bed and they sat in silence for what seemed like forever, neither of them knowing how to bring up the elephant in the room.

"So, do you like Matt?" Lottie asked, turning to face Harry

"Yeah he's, nice" Harry trailed off

"You don't have to lie, I don't like him" Lottie replied

"Why not?" Harry asked, suddenly ten times more interested in the conversation

"I don't know, he just doesn't seem like a nice person, whenever I try to talk to him he brushes me off. He's weird" And even though he wouldn't admit it, Harry agreed with what Lottie just said more than he's agreed with anything in his whole life but if Louis liked him then Matt was obviously a good guy.

Lie. Matt was one of the worst guys Harry had ever come across in his life.

The first time he noticed it was actually at a mutual friends party. Louis had a small cut above his eye and a split lip. As anyone would, Harry asked him and Louis said he had just walked into a door. It was dark and Louis was tipsy so Harry let it go but it started getting more frequent. Louis would show up at Harry's with bruises littering his arms or cuts on his face. He started becoming closed off and flinched when Harry touched him unexpectedly. Harry wasn't an idiot, he knew what was happening because the same thing had happened to his sister just a few years prior. The hard part was actually talking about it.

"Why are you still with him Lou?" Harry asked out of no where one day while they were playing Fifa.

"With who?" Louis joked, acting clueless

"Don't Louis, just don't. You know exactly what I'm talking about because you were the one who told me what to do when the same thing was happening to Gem, told me to stay strong for her because soon enough she would have the sense to walk away. So why aren't you walking away?" Harry pressed, growing angrier by the minute.

"He loves me Harry" Louis mumbled under his breath

"That's bullshit Louis! If he loves you why does he knock seven bells out of you every time he sees you?!"

"You don't understand Harry its diff-"

"Don't you dare tell me its different! Its no different at all!" And that's when Harry gave up. He just sat back and let Matt and Louis carry on with their lives even though it meant Louis got hurt. He was tired, more tired than he's ever been because he was working for something he was never going to have. He couldn't put up with all the drama that surrounded him and Louis anymore, he was ready to wash his hands of Louis.

Okay, so Harry didn't want Louis out of his life at all, he just wanted him to safe. He knew Louis would never let him interfere because he's stubborn and thinks he's stronger than he actually is, so for 7 months, he watched Louis get hurt which, in turn, hurt Harry. The only thing keeping both boys distracted was Louis' birthday, deciding they were going to celebrate his 20th in style.

"What do you want for your birthday? I usually have some idea but I haven't really got a clue this year. I guess I could just put some money in a card, then you can spend it on what you want, although that does seem like a bit of a cop out so I'll just get you a pres-"

"Shut up Harry" Louis whispered, "I left Matt"

Silence.

"Oh"

Silence. Then crying. Before Harry knew it Louis was attached onto him, crying into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I should have listened" Louis sobbed

"Louis this wasn't your fault at all. I'm sorry for shouting and acting like a dick when you needed me. At least you're safe now, yeah?" Harry asked, soothing the older boy, "Come on, lets go and watch a film and you can say the night, okay?" Louis nodded and followed Harry downstairs to the TV.

 

When Harry turned 18 Louis was 20 and losing control.

Ever since Louis had left Matt in December he hadn't been the same. Sure he was a lot more happier and bubbly but the old Louis still wasn't there. He deteriorated from then. Out almost every night at a club, bringing back a random guy before waking his family up and being scolded for being so reckless and immature. Not that the tellings off bothered him. He didn't stop bringing home strangers and didn't stop partying and drinking. He was killing himself off, slowly but surely and tearing his family apart at the same time. The only person he didn't push away was Harry and that really wasn't helpful. In some, sick, twisted way, Harry wished Louis would push him away so he didn't have to watch him destroy his life. Time and time again Harry tried to talk to Louis, tell him that he was better than all of this but Louis would just laugh it off and tell him that "when you're older you'll understand"

Lie. Harry would never understand why Louis was doing this.

"Louis, you need to stop sleeping with random guys you pick up in clubs" Harry stated firmly, if he was going to get his point across, he could't be the gentle Harry he usually is.

"Yeah I can Harry, just relax" Louis shrugged.

"No I won't relax Louis, people are going to think you're a slut" Harry said, raising his voice.

"Do you think I'm a slut? Is this what this is about? You telling me I'm too much of a whore for my own good?" Louis asked, rage boiling inside him.

"No I'm just saying, you have a family Lou, they don't want to see you with a different guy every night. Those girls think the world of you, so why would you let them think that doing this is okay?"

"I get to let go, enjoy myself and if you don't like that then you can fuck off" Louis said angrily

"No, I just thought I should let you know, I'll leave it from now on" Harry said, backing down

"Good. Right, I'm going to get ready for tonight, I'll see you tomorrow Haz" Louis said, ruffing Harry's hair as he walked past to get to the door as if nothing had just happened. Harry could never understand why he has to be the one who loves Louis. Why couldn't he have fallen for a nice guy from his school, or his next door neighbour Tom. Not that they would have gone for him but at least he could have avoided them but no, he's stuck in love with his ridiculously annoying and perfect best friend. He must have been one hell of a dick in a past life. He couldn't even bring himself to get over Louis because he knows deep down it will never happen. So he just takes all the teasing off Gemma and the shit off Louis. Waits for him to realise he's been an idiot and he actually does need Harry because Harry Styles is a god damn good friend, or at least he hopes he is.

 

When Louis is 21, Harry is 19 and he's had enough.

Louis would still go out and get drunk but it wasn't anything like what it was before. He would still bring guys home as well but he wasn't sleeping with five people a week. Harry just wanted him to be happy, wanted him to have a nice relationship with someone he could trust and love more than anything in the world and if that wasn't Harry then that was fine. Actually it wasn't fine, Harry wanted Louis to want him.

"Louis, why don't you just go out on a date or something? Find a boyfriend again?" Harry asked, sitting on the swing next to the older boy.

"I don't want a boyfriend, I don't want to love anyone" Louis stated flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because everyone who's ever supposedly loved me, has left me. My mums got the girls to look after, my dad left when I was little, Hannah, Niall and Matt all left me. Don't even get me started on all my friends from school, they all left for uni while I'm suck here. Everyone leaves" Louis finished and Harry knew it was now or never.

"Louis, how can you say that?! I've stood by you for six fucking years! I seen boyfriends _and_ girlfriends go and I've always been the shoulder to cry on so how can you say everyone who loves you leaves you?! I _never_ left you! I stayed for the whole time and you've never even noticed that I'm so fucking in love with you that it hurts. It physically hurts to see you with all those other people and know that its never me. I met you when I was 14 and I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever met. Didn't you get suspicious? I've had one boyfriend in the past six years and he was only there because I wanted to get over you. I've never stopped loving you and I've never left you so don't you dare say that the people who love you leave you because I never did!" Harry shouted, not caring about the passers by looking at him or the tears that were pouring down his cheeks,

"I'm going home"

"Harry wait" Louis called

"What?" and before he knew it Louis' lips were smashed against his own. It was better than he had ever imagined, his dream was coming true right in front of him and it was the best moment of his life. Louis' arms were wrapped around his waist, pulling him in as close as humanly possible and Harry's were slung around Louis' neck, holding on as if this moment was going to be ripped away from him at any second. He didn't even need to breathe, everything Harry had ever wanted was happening and he couldn't be happier. Louis had the softest lips and even though it was a mix of kissing and tears, Harry's and now Louis', it was perfect. I guess you could say Harry was a cliché teenager, but in his defence, it was the best cliché you would ever come across.

"You can't just confess your undying love for me and then start to walk away" Louis joked as he pulled out of the kiss, "lets go home, yeah?"

When the two boys arrived back at Louis' they sat and cuddled, not needing to talk, stopping Jay in her tracks when she came in to ask if they wanted anything to eat and being introduced to "my new boyfriend Harry" and leaving the room happily because she knew that now her son would be okay from now on and even though she jokes that he could "finally move out now" deep down she felt the most amazing she has for years.

As for Harry, he was still in dream world. He had to pinch himself just to remind himself that this was actually real life. He could plan moving in with Louis and unpacking and being a family. He could imagine getting married and all Louis' friends who are at university would be there. He could have kids with Louis but for now, he could just walk up to Louis and kiss him whenever he wanted and he could cuddle him and love him because that's what boyfriends do. Louis was his boyfriend.

Lie. Louis was the love of his life

 

 

 

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